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A NEW PRIEST NEEDED. Hebrews 7:11-19. 10/22/2023. #21
11 Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? 12 For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law. 13 For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar. 14 For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood. 15 And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest 16 who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. 17 For He testifies: “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” 18 For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, 19 for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.
1. Failure on Mt. Moriah
a. Aaronic priesthood couldn’t bring deliverance
a1. Intercession is supposed to resolve issues
a2. Offerings = not remove guilt of sin
b. God set up the priesthood as a stopgap measure
a1. It was unable to complete the task of redeeming the sinner and paying for sin
a2. The Law was not designed to remove sin
a3. Animal sacrifices = not worthy to pay for sins (creatures of a fallen world)
c. An inadequate system must yield to a better one
d. If the Law and the system to minister the Law failed to remedy sin, a new Law and system was needed
a1. Required removing old system (annulling)
a2. Replaced with a new system and priesthood
e. Once the old system is annulled, it no longer is in effect and all appeals to it fail
2. Enter the new priest
a. The old priest was from Levi and Aaron
b. The new priest is from Judah (royal tribe) of the line of David (a signal of a different kind of priest)
a1. Judah never served as an OT priest
a2. King Uzziah struck with leprosy for attempting to sacrifice in the temple
c. The new priest was superior to the old high priest
a1. His type, Melchizedek, predated Aaron
a2. He was holy, being the Son of God
a3. He was priest, king, and offering all in one
a4. His priesthood is eternal
a5. His ministry is effective to the removal of sin and the granting of eternal life
d. Ps. 110:4 the prediction of a greater priesthood indicated that the old priesthood would be replaced
Abraham Moses David Exile Christ
—1800 BC——-1400 BC—-1000 BC—600BC—-33 AD
3. The arrival of perfection
a. The word perfect (telos) means complete
a1. The old priesthood was incomplete since it could not resolve sin (Galatians 3:1-14)
a2. A new priest of a different tribe was needed
b. Christ was superior in all ways to the High Priests
a1. The HP were sinful and mortal
a2. Christ is sinless and immortal
a3. The HP were unworthy to remove sin
a4. Christ in all ways was worthy to deliver
a5. The HP arrived without prophecy
a6. The priest after Melchizedek was prophesied
c. Aaron served by “fleshly command” (physical)
d. Christ served by divine grace (John 3:16)
e. The old covenant system was completely annulled
a1. Cancelled = a limited duration
a2. Just as John the Baptist prepared the way for Christ, the old covenant did as well (had to be an effective offering OT could not do)
f. The obsolete must give way to the effective
a1. Hebrews demonstrates that Jewish believers must discard the Law in order to embrace Christ (cannot follow both)
a2. The flawed must give way to the perfect
g. All things that do not serve us well must go
a1. Unbiblical beliefs and practices
a2. Fleshly habits and worldly pursuits
Key Verse: Galatians 3:1-14
1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? 2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? 4 Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. 10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” 11 But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.” 12 Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.